Most common garment (or clothes) hangers are constructed of plastic material. The plastic material, as well as the process for manufacturing, is relatively inexpensive. However, the arms and hook/neck are rigid and usually rigidly affixed together. Other hangers are generally more expensive because of the material (e.g., wood, metal, etc.) used or because they include additional functionality (e.g., folding, foldable arms, use for special garments, collapsible, etc.).
The common relatively inexpensive plastic hanger has at least one drawback—when a user pulls a garment from the hanger, the hanger can break. This is especially problematic for smaller hangers used mainly for children's garments, as they tend to be smaller and more prone to breaking. In addition, due to their height size and lack of experience with hangers, children and toddlers often pull downward (from below) on the garment while the hanger remains on the rod while attempting to remove the garment. Many times, due to the rigidity of the arms, as the garment is pulled (usually at one side) downward one arm of the hanger rotates downward and the other arm rotates upward. At the same time, the garment usually gets caught to the smaller neck area and the child tends to pull harder on garment. As a result of this force, the hanger arm(s) or neck may break.
In addition, because common plastic hangers are manufactured as a single integral unit, shipping and packaging containers need to conform or address the full size of the hanger.
Accordingly, there is needed a relatively inexpensive (material and manufacture) garment hanger that resists such forces, reduces the likelihood of breakage, and can be packaged economically and within a smaller volume.